XSET(1) X Version 11 XSET(1)
xset - user preference utility for X
xset [-display display]
[-b] [b {on|off}] [b [volume [pitch [duration]]]]
[-bc] [bc]
[-c] [c {on|off}] [c [volume]]
[+dpms] [-dpms]
[dpms standby [ suspend [ off]]]
[dpms force {standby|suspend|off|on}]
[fp=pathlist] [-fp=pathlist] [+fp=pathlist]
[fp-pathlist] [fp+pathlist] [fp default] [fp rehash]
[-led [integer|named indicator]] [led [integer|named indicator]]
[led {on|off}]
[mouse [accel_mult[/accel_div] [threshold]]] [mouse default]
[p pixel color]
[-r [keycode]] [r [keycode]] [r {on|off}] [r rate delay [rate]]
[s [length [period]]] [s {blank|noblank}] [s {expose|noexpose}]
[s {on|off}] [s default] [s activate] [s reset]
[q]
[-version]
This program is used to set or query various user preference options
of the display.
-display display
This option specifies the server to use; see X(7).
b The b option controls bell volume, pitch and duration. This
option accepts up to three numerical parameters, a preceding
dash(-), or a on/off flag. If no parameters are given, or
the on flag is used, the system defaults will be used. If
the dash or off are given, the bell will be turned off. If
only one numerical parameter is given, the bell volume will
be set to that value, as a percentage of its maximum.
Likewise, the second numerical parameter specifies the bell
pitch, in hertz, and the third numerical parameter specifies
the duration in milliseconds. Note that not all hardware can
vary the bell characteristics. The X server will set the
characteristics of the bell as closely as it can to the
user's specifications.
bc The bc option controls bug compatibility mode in the server,
if possible; a preceding dash(-) disables the mode, otherwise
the mode is enabled. Various pre-R4 clients pass invalid
values in some protocol requests, and pre-R4 servers did not
correctly generate errors in these cases. Such clients, when
run against an R4 server, will terminate abnormally or
otherwise fail to operate correctly. Bug compatibility mode
explicitly reintroduces certain bugs into the X server, so
that many such clients can still be run. This mode should be
used with care; new application development should be done
with this mode disabled. The server must support the
MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD protocol extension in order for this
option to work. The X.Org X server 1.2 and later do not
support enabling this mode.
c The c option controls key click. This option can take an
optional value, a preceding dash(-), or an on/off flag. If
no parameter or the on flag is given, the system defaults
will be used. If the dash or off flag is used, keyclick will
be disabled. If a value from 0 to 100 is given, it is used
to indicate volume, as a percentage of the maximum. The X
server will set the volume to the nearest value that the
hardware can support.
-dpms The -dpms option disables Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) features.
+dpms The +dpms option enables Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) features.
dpms flags...
The dpms option allows the Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) parameters to be set. The option can take up to three
numerical values, or the force flag followed by a DPMS state.
The force flags forces the server to immediately switch to
the DPMS state specified. The DPMS state can be one of
standby, suspend, off, or on. When numerical values are
given, they set the inactivity period (in units of seconds)
before the three modes are activated. The first value given
is for the standby mode, the second is for the suspend mode,
and the third is for the off mode. Setting these values
implicitly enables the DPMS features. A value of zero
disables a particular mode.
fp= path,...
The fp= sets the font path to the entries given in the path
argument. The entries are interpreted by the server, not by
the client. Typically they are directory names or font
server names, but the interpretation is server-dependent.
fp default
The default argument causes the font path to be reset to the
server's default.
fp rehash
The rehash argument resets the font path to its current
value, causing the server to reread the font databases in the
current font path. This is generally only used when adding
new fonts to a font directory (after running mkfontdir to
recreate the font database).
-fp or fp-
The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current font
path. They must be followed by a comma-separated list of
entries.
+fp or fp+
The +fp and fp+ options prepend and append elements to the
current font path, respectively. They must be followed by a
comma-separated list of entries.
led The led option controls the keyboard LEDs. This controls the
turning on or off of one or all of the LEDs. It accepts an
optional integer, a preceding dash(-), or an on/off flag. If
no parameter or the on flag is given, all LEDs are turned on.
If a preceding dash or the flag off is given, all LEDs are
turned off. If a value between 1 and 32 is given, that LED
will be turned on or off depending on the existence of a
preceding dash. ``xset led 3'' would turn led #3 on. ``xset
-led 3'' would turn it off. The particular LED values may
refer to different LEDs on different hardware. If the X
server supports the XKEYBOARD (XKB) extension, leds may be
referenced by the XKB indicator name by specifying the named
keyword and the indicator name. For example, to turn on the
Scroll Lock LED:
xset led named "Scroll Lock"
mouse The mouse option controls the mouse parameters; it may be
abbreviated to m. Of course, it applies to most pointing
devices, not just mice. The parameters for the pointing
device are acceleration and threshold. The acceleration can
be specified as an integer, or as a simple fraction. The
threshold is just an integer. The setting is applied to all
connected pointing devices. xinput(1) should be used if you
need device-specific settings.
By default the pointer (the on-screen representation of the pointing
device) will go acceleration times as fast when the device travels
more than threshold mickeys (i.e. would-be pixels) in 10 ms,
including a small transition range. This way, the pointing device
can be used for precise alignment when it is moved slowly, yet it can
be set to travel across the screen in a flick of the wrist when
desired. One or both parameters for the mouse option can be omitted,
but if only one is given, it will be interpreted as the acceleration.
If no parameters or the flag default is used, the system defaults
will be used.
If the threshold parameter is provided and 0, the acceleration
parameter will be used in the exponent of a more natural and
continuous formula, giving precise control for slow motion but big
reach for fast motion, and a progressive transition for motions in
between. Recommended acceleration value in this case is 3/2 to 3,
but is not limited to that range.
In the X.Org X Server 1.6 and above, the behaviour described so far
is linked to the default profile. There are other profiles (i.e.
functions determining pointer acceleration from device velocity) and
additional settings, so the above description may not apply to non-
default cases. In the X.Org Server 1.7, these are available as input
device properties (see xinput(1).
p The p option controls pixel color values. The parameters are
the color map entry number in decimal, and a color
specification. The root background colors may be changed on
some servers by altering the entries for BlackPixel and
WhitePixel. Although these are often 0 and 1, they need not
be. Also, a server may choose to allocate those colors
privately, in which case an error will be generated. The map
entry must not be a read-only color, or an error will result.
r The r option controls the autorepeat. Invoking with "-r", or
"r off", will disable autorepeat, whereas "r", or "r on" will
enable autorepeat. Following the "-r" or "r" option with an
integer keycode between 0 and 255 will disable or enable
autorepeat on that key respectively, but only if it makes
sense for the particular keycode. Keycodes below 8 are not
typically valid for this command. Example: "xset -r 10" will
disable autorepeat for the "1" key on the top row of an IBM
PC keyboard.
If the server supports the XFree86-Misc extension, or the XKB
extension, then a parameter of rate is accepted and should be
followed by zero, one, or two numeric values. The first
specifies the delay before autorepeat starts and the second
specifies the repeat rate. In the case that the server
supports the XKB extension, the delay is the number of
milliseconds before autorepeat starts, and the rate is the
number of repeats per second. If the rate or delay is not
given, it will be set to the default value.
s The s option lets you set the screen saver parameters. This
option accepts up to two numerical parameters, a
blank/noblank flag, an expose/noexpose flag, an on/off flag,
an activate/reset flag, or the default flag. If no
parameters or the default flag is used, the system will be
set to its default screen saver characteristics. The on/off
flags simply turn the screen saver functions on or off. The
activate flag forces activation of screen saver even if the
screen saver had been turned off. The reset flag forces
deactivation of screen saver if it is active. The blank flag
sets the preference to blank the video (if the hardware can
do so) rather than display a background pattern, while
noblank sets the preference to display a pattern rather than
blank the video. The expose flag sets the preference to
allow window exposures (the server can freely discard window
contents), while noexpose sets the preference to disable the
screen saver unless the server can regenerate the screens
without causing exposure events. The length and period
parameters for the screen saver function determines how long
the server must be inactive for screen saving to activate,
and the period to change the background pattern to avoid burn
in. The arguments are specified in seconds. If only one
numerical parameter is given, it will be used for the length.
q The q option gives you information on the current settings.
-version
The -version option prints the program version and exits
without doing anything else.
These settings will be reset to default values when you log out.
Note that not all X implementations are guaranteed to honor all of
these options.
X(7), Xserver(1), xinput(1), xmodmap(1), xrdb(1), xsetroot(1)
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
David Krikorian, MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
XFree86-Misc support added by David Dawes and Joe Moss
Manpage updates added by Mike A. Harris <mharris@redhat.com>
xset 1.2.6 2025-04-12 XSET(1)
NAME
xset - user preference utility for X
SYNOPSIS
xset [-display display]
[-b] [b {on|off}] [b [volume [pitch [duration]]]]
[-bc] [bc]
[-c] [c {on|off}] [c [volume]]
[+dpms] [-dpms]
[dpms standby [ suspend [ off]]]
[dpms force {standby|suspend|off|on}]
[fp=pathlist] [-fp=pathlist] [+fp=pathlist]
[fp-pathlist] [fp+pathlist] [fp default] [fp rehash]
[-led [integer|named indicator]] [led [integer|named indicator]]
[led {on|off}]
[mouse [accel_mult[/accel_div] [threshold]]] [mouse default]
[p pixel color]
[-r [keycode]] [r [keycode]] [r {on|off}] [r rate delay [rate]]
[s [length [period]]] [s {blank|noblank}] [s {expose|noexpose}]
[s {on|off}] [s default] [s activate] [s reset]
[q]
[-version]
DESCRIPTION
This program is used to set or query various user preference options
of the display.
OPTIONS
-display display
This option specifies the server to use; see X(7).
b The b option controls bell volume, pitch and duration. This
option accepts up to three numerical parameters, a preceding
dash(-), or a on/off flag. If no parameters are given, or
the on flag is used, the system defaults will be used. If
the dash or off are given, the bell will be turned off. If
only one numerical parameter is given, the bell volume will
be set to that value, as a percentage of its maximum.
Likewise, the second numerical parameter specifies the bell
pitch, in hertz, and the third numerical parameter specifies
the duration in milliseconds. Note that not all hardware can
vary the bell characteristics. The X server will set the
characteristics of the bell as closely as it can to the
user's specifications.
bc The bc option controls bug compatibility mode in the server,
if possible; a preceding dash(-) disables the mode, otherwise
the mode is enabled. Various pre-R4 clients pass invalid
values in some protocol requests, and pre-R4 servers did not
correctly generate errors in these cases. Such clients, when
run against an R4 server, will terminate abnormally or
otherwise fail to operate correctly. Bug compatibility mode
explicitly reintroduces certain bugs into the X server, so
that many such clients can still be run. This mode should be
used with care; new application development should be done
with this mode disabled. The server must support the
MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD protocol extension in order for this
option to work. The X.Org X server 1.2 and later do not
support enabling this mode.
c The c option controls key click. This option can take an
optional value, a preceding dash(-), or an on/off flag. If
no parameter or the on flag is given, the system defaults
will be used. If the dash or off flag is used, keyclick will
be disabled. If a value from 0 to 100 is given, it is used
to indicate volume, as a percentage of the maximum. The X
server will set the volume to the nearest value that the
hardware can support.
-dpms The -dpms option disables Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) features.
+dpms The +dpms option enables Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) features.
dpms flags...
The dpms option allows the Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS) parameters to be set. The option can take up to three
numerical values, or the force flag followed by a DPMS state.
The force flags forces the server to immediately switch to
the DPMS state specified. The DPMS state can be one of
standby, suspend, off, or on. When numerical values are
given, they set the inactivity period (in units of seconds)
before the three modes are activated. The first value given
is for the standby mode, the second is for the suspend mode,
and the third is for the off mode. Setting these values
implicitly enables the DPMS features. A value of zero
disables a particular mode.
fp= path,...
The fp= sets the font path to the entries given in the path
argument. The entries are interpreted by the server, not by
the client. Typically they are directory names or font
server names, but the interpretation is server-dependent.
fp default
The default argument causes the font path to be reset to the
server's default.
fp rehash
The rehash argument resets the font path to its current
value, causing the server to reread the font databases in the
current font path. This is generally only used when adding
new fonts to a font directory (after running mkfontdir to
recreate the font database).
-fp or fp-
The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current font
path. They must be followed by a comma-separated list of
entries.
+fp or fp+
The +fp and fp+ options prepend and append elements to the
current font path, respectively. They must be followed by a
comma-separated list of entries.
led The led option controls the keyboard LEDs. This controls the
turning on or off of one or all of the LEDs. It accepts an
optional integer, a preceding dash(-), or an on/off flag. If
no parameter or the on flag is given, all LEDs are turned on.
If a preceding dash or the flag off is given, all LEDs are
turned off. If a value between 1 and 32 is given, that LED
will be turned on or off depending on the existence of a
preceding dash. ``xset led 3'' would turn led #3 on. ``xset
-led 3'' would turn it off. The particular LED values may
refer to different LEDs on different hardware. If the X
server supports the XKEYBOARD (XKB) extension, leds may be
referenced by the XKB indicator name by specifying the named
keyword and the indicator name. For example, to turn on the
Scroll Lock LED:
xset led named "Scroll Lock"
mouse The mouse option controls the mouse parameters; it may be
abbreviated to m. Of course, it applies to most pointing
devices, not just mice. The parameters for the pointing
device are acceleration and threshold. The acceleration can
be specified as an integer, or as a simple fraction. The
threshold is just an integer. The setting is applied to all
connected pointing devices. xinput(1) should be used if you
need device-specific settings.
By default the pointer (the on-screen representation of the pointing
device) will go acceleration times as fast when the device travels
more than threshold mickeys (i.e. would-be pixels) in 10 ms,
including a small transition range. This way, the pointing device
can be used for precise alignment when it is moved slowly, yet it can
be set to travel across the screen in a flick of the wrist when
desired. One or both parameters for the mouse option can be omitted,
but if only one is given, it will be interpreted as the acceleration.
If no parameters or the flag default is used, the system defaults
will be used.
If the threshold parameter is provided and 0, the acceleration
parameter will be used in the exponent of a more natural and
continuous formula, giving precise control for slow motion but big
reach for fast motion, and a progressive transition for motions in
between. Recommended acceleration value in this case is 3/2 to 3,
but is not limited to that range.
In the X.Org X Server 1.6 and above, the behaviour described so far
is linked to the default profile. There are other profiles (i.e.
functions determining pointer acceleration from device velocity) and
additional settings, so the above description may not apply to non-
default cases. In the X.Org Server 1.7, these are available as input
device properties (see xinput(1).
p The p option controls pixel color values. The parameters are
the color map entry number in decimal, and a color
specification. The root background colors may be changed on
some servers by altering the entries for BlackPixel and
WhitePixel. Although these are often 0 and 1, they need not
be. Also, a server may choose to allocate those colors
privately, in which case an error will be generated. The map
entry must not be a read-only color, or an error will result.
r The r option controls the autorepeat. Invoking with "-r", or
"r off", will disable autorepeat, whereas "r", or "r on" will
enable autorepeat. Following the "-r" or "r" option with an
integer keycode between 0 and 255 will disable or enable
autorepeat on that key respectively, but only if it makes
sense for the particular keycode. Keycodes below 8 are not
typically valid for this command. Example: "xset -r 10" will
disable autorepeat for the "1" key on the top row of an IBM
PC keyboard.
If the server supports the XFree86-Misc extension, or the XKB
extension, then a parameter of rate is accepted and should be
followed by zero, one, or two numeric values. The first
specifies the delay before autorepeat starts and the second
specifies the repeat rate. In the case that the server
supports the XKB extension, the delay is the number of
milliseconds before autorepeat starts, and the rate is the
number of repeats per second. If the rate or delay is not
given, it will be set to the default value.
s The s option lets you set the screen saver parameters. This
option accepts up to two numerical parameters, a
blank/noblank flag, an expose/noexpose flag, an on/off flag,
an activate/reset flag, or the default flag. If no
parameters or the default flag is used, the system will be
set to its default screen saver characteristics. The on/off
flags simply turn the screen saver functions on or off. The
activate flag forces activation of screen saver even if the
screen saver had been turned off. The reset flag forces
deactivation of screen saver if it is active. The blank flag
sets the preference to blank the video (if the hardware can
do so) rather than display a background pattern, while
noblank sets the preference to display a pattern rather than
blank the video. The expose flag sets the preference to
allow window exposures (the server can freely discard window
contents), while noexpose sets the preference to disable the
screen saver unless the server can regenerate the screens
without causing exposure events. The length and period
parameters for the screen saver function determines how long
the server must be inactive for screen saving to activate,
and the period to change the background pattern to avoid burn
in. The arguments are specified in seconds. If only one
numerical parameter is given, it will be used for the length.
q The q option gives you information on the current settings.
-version
The -version option prints the program version and exits
without doing anything else.
These settings will be reset to default values when you log out.
Note that not all X implementations are guaranteed to honor all of
these options.
SEE ALSO
X(7), Xserver(1), xinput(1), xmodmap(1), xrdb(1), xsetroot(1)
AUTHOR
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
David Krikorian, MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
XFree86-Misc support added by David Dawes and Joe Moss
Manpage updates added by Mike A. Harris <mharris@redhat.com>
xset 1.2.6 2025-04-12 XSET(1)